


you saved me once and now i'll save you too

by wickedwheeler



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Cute, F/M, Hurt, I Love You, mileven is beautiful, we deserved a longer version of this scene so i had to write one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 06:10:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20130628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedwheeler/pseuds/wickedwheeler
Summary: the sauna test mileven scene but longer because it's what we deserveda bit inspired by the song “Hesitate” by the Jonas Brothers





	you saved me once and now i'll save you too

Mike had forgotten what it was like to be truly scared to death. It had been so long since he or any of the others had been in that kind of situation, but here they were, once again, fighting monsters from another dimension.

Billy was flayed. The mind flayer was in him and had taken control.

Things were strange again and the fear of not knowing whether they'd see tomorrow was back inside of all of them and that fear only grew, the deeper they got into the chaos that was now brewing in Hawkins.   


Watching as El tried to fight against the flayed teen, he was terrified, the thought of Billy hurting his girl the only thing on Mike's mind. 

But then somehow, everything got worse and Billy was actually hurting El, right in front of him, in front of all of them. It wasn't some terrible possibility in his head anymore, it was real and he was truly _scared to death. _  


After grabbing the nearest weapon he could find, Mike attacked, not hesitating for even a second as he aimed the metal rod at the back of Billy's head. Only his plan didn't go as he'd hoped it would.

Billy turned instantly, catching the rod in hand, preventing Mike from moving it any further. He snatched the weapon right from Mike's grip, mindlessly throwing it off to the side.

Mike backed away, his body trembling with fear. He thought he would just knock the guy out and that would be it, but unfortunately it wasn't that simple. It never was and he was a fool for thinking that it could be.

Now, as he stood panting, pressed up against the wall, he just knew this would be the end of the road for him. El was on the ground, in no shape to save him, and as for his friends, well, they probably wouldn't do anything due to the shock he knew was running through all of them. Their feet might as well be glued to the floor.

There was no one to come to his rescue.

He was about to die and that was that.

In that moment though, he was more grateful that he had saved El from being choked to death. She could've died if he hadn't have intervened. He should've done something quicker, he knew that, but now wasn't the time to dwell over it. He had saved her just in time, that was all that mattered.

He could only hope that El would be able to fight back by the time Billy had finished him off, or someone else would decide to jump in to help her, so at least he wouldn't have died for nothing.   


As Billy came closer, no doubt ready to smash Mike into nothing but a pile of bones, he was suddenly lifted from the ground, his flayed body floating high in the air. 

Mike looked up in shock, until he saw movement from the floor. El had somehow mustered up the strength to get up, using every bit of her power on Billy. Strained groans and screams fell from her mouth, proof that she was indeed, using every bit of her power. 

She made her way over to them, placing herself in between the two, protecting Mike from the monster that was now Billy Hargrove.

Her screaming had gotten excessively louder, until she forcefully threw Billy through the brick wall.

Then, as if her legs had completely given out on her, she fell right back into Mike's arms. Their bodies slid straight down to the floor, Mike wrapping his arms around her, while her head fell back on his shoulder. 

Max, Will and Lucas still stood frozen, watching as El broke down, but snapped out of it pretty quickly, running over to the now gaping hole in the wall. They watched as Billy struggled to pry himself up off the ground, each praying that he wouldn't come back for more.

The other two party members weren't too worried about Billy, though. They were only worried about each other.   


Mike could hear her somewhat quiet sobs. He could feel her body shaking, along with the gentle touch of her hand on his cheek.

"El, are you okay?"

At first he wasn't sure if she had heard him, but the delayed slight shake of her head indicated that she had heard him and that she was definitely not okay. Mike only held her tighter, wanting nothing more than to take her pain away.

He placed a soft kiss to her forehead, gently resting his head on hers. "I'm so proud of you, El. You were awesome!"

His encouraging words only made her cry more though, the pitiful sound breaking his heart into pieces. He couldn't even begin to imagine how much pain she was in after what she had just put herself through.

Mike shifted, in attempt to get up, but she immediately refused, frantically shaking her head once more. "No! Please, don't."

He fell back to his previous position right away, not wanting to upset her any more. "Shh, shh. It's okay, we don't have to get up. We'll stay here. I'll hold you for as long as you need me to."

His words helped calm her down some, as he gently moved her around in his arms, so that he could see her face. Her eyes were red, full of tears. Blood was dripping out of her nose, both sides. She looked completely drained, as he knew she probably was.

He pulled the bottom of his shirt up, carefully wiping underneath her nose. Her eyes closed in response, her exhaustion growing by the second.

Once he'd gotten most of the blood off, he let his shirt fall back down into place. El slowly opened her eyes, bringing them up to meet his, looking like she could burst into tears again at any moment.

"You saved me again, El. Thank you." He smiled sadly, hating that she always has to play the hero, but feeling just as grateful for it as the last time she had.

"You saved me too, Mike." She rushed to tell him, not wanting him to neglect his own heroic actions.

She stared heavily into his eyes before an almost terrified look crossed her face.

"He was gonna hurt you." She spoke tiredly, her eyes briefly squeezing shut at the thought of what could have happened to him if she hadn't stopped Billy. Mike saw a single tear drop fall down her cheek, before she opened her eyes again.

"He did hurt you, El." Mike said, with quite a bit of anger in his voice. Anger at Billy... Anger at himself. "I'm so sorry, I should've done something sooner."

El immediately shook her head. "No, it's okay. It doesn't matter."

Her body then sprung forward, with her arms wrapping around his neck, as she hugged him close to her.

"I was so scared." He heard her whisper, before she broke out into more sobs.

Mike slowly rubbed his hand across her back, wishing he could do something, anything, to make her feel better.

"Me too El, me too."

Mike pulled out of her embrace, hoping to see how she was doing, to tell her more, but her eyes refused to meet his. 

"Hey, look at me." He spoke softly, gently running his thumbs across her cheeks to wipe the tears. "You don't have to be scared anymore, because I'm not going to let him hurt you again, okay? None of us will let that happen." 

She finally looked up, the defeated look on her face stomping on the pieces of his broken heart. Seeing her like this was devastating and he hoped that she never had to feel this way again.

"Promise?"

"Promise." He knew it was a heavy promise to make, but he meant it. Whatever he had to do to keep her safe, he'd do it. There was nothing that he wouldn't do for her. Nothing.

He would surely die before he let anything else happen to her.

El slightly nodded her head, her eyes closing once more as the tears began to fall again. Only this time, she wasn't alone. The both of them had warm tears running down their faces, their cries combining into one tragic sound to have to overhear.

Mike leaned closer to El, softly kissing the spots on her cheeks where fresh tear drops had fallen.

The feeling of Mike kissing away her sadness stirred something inside of her, something she'd been aware of for awhile now. Its presence was simply too overwhelming in that moment and she had to do something about it.

"Mike, I have to tell you something." She weakly spoke from where she now sat resting her head against his chest.

"What is it?"

El smiled to herself, knowing the next few words that came out of her mouth would surely catch him by surprise. She pulled back, her smile growing as she stared deeply into his soft eyes. "I love you."

Immediately upon hearing her say those words, Mike felt as if he couldn't breathe.

El loves him. She really loves him.

The incredible girl lying in his arms loves him.

Of course, he loves her, too. He truly believes that he always has, ever since he first laid eyes on her.

"I love you too, El." He breathlessly admitted, placing another loving kiss to her forehead.

They didn't say anything else, they didn't need to. They only held one other close, afraid that if they let go, the other might disappear.

All that ran through their minds that night as they were wrapped so tightly in each other's arms, was how incredibly lucky they were to have one other, to have someone who was willing to die for them time and time again, to have someone to hold them when things got so completely screwed up, to have someone who makes them truly happy, to have someonethat_ loves them._


End file.
